Better than ever…

Dinner was without doubt, better than ever, that night at Greenwood aka Peter’s Wooden House for the obvious reason that Peter saw it fitting to add a lot of those ethnic Dayak/Iban dishes instead of just the usual dishes from their Payung menu.

He cooked this gorgeous pansoh manok (chicken cooked in bamboo)…

…and I especially liked how he did not use those old mother hens (chickens that are not able to lay eggs anymore) like what they usually do. The meat is tough and has an unpleasant smell and I often felt geli geli when I ate it. I particularly loved the juices coming out of the meat during the slow intense cooking inside the bamboo.

Lemina is the Iban lady who has been working at Payung for a very very long time. Yes, she does cook some very delightful Iban dishes but usually, for the staff to enjoy themselves. That night, they roped her in to cook this dish of oil palm shoots…

…that literally stole the show! Many had never seen it before, much less, eaten it and of course, they all ended up praising it to the skies!

Peter once gave me half an ikan sultan cooked by Lemina, wrapped in banana leaf with all the ingredients added…

…and it was absolutely out of this world! I reciprocated and cooked ikan buris this way but wrapped in my daun kunyit (turmeric leaves)…

…and Peter loved it to bits! That night, they had ikan sultan too but steamed…

…not cooked, wrapped in leaves. It was nice too but I prefer the way we did it before.

This was their version of the Cantonese sour duck…

…using chicken instead as many like my missus, for one, are not into duck and this was also chicken, their Payung chicken…

…that has been on their menu ever since I first started dropping by the cafe to enjoy the dishes served.

Other than these poultry dishes, there were my favourite, the belimbing prawns…

…and the tapioca leaves/pumpkin combo, the titek…

I love this so much but too bad, it is not available on their regular menu. That was why that night I kept going back for more!

This looks like it’s Peter’s favourite, the paku (wild jungle fern) cooked in santan (coconut milk)…

…and this terung Iban /Dayak brinjal cooked with salai ikan (smoked fish)…

…was very well-received too. Yes, it was very nice but usually, when we cook this vegetable, we would not remove the skin…nor the seeds (without the seeds, it will not be so sour).

I did try a bit of these wild mushrooms…

…and other than all the aforementioned, there was Peter’s pride and joy, his herbs salad…

…this VERY nice potato salad…

…and when there are strawberries, Peter will not miss his fruit salad…

Somehow or other, with the very sweet strawberries, the salad is so much nicer.

This dessert was served at the end – coconut ice cream with gula apong and a sprinkling of kacang tumbuk (crushed peanuts) and green sian chao (grass jelly)…

I don’t know how much the paying guests from Singapore had to pay – normally, it is RM60.00 per head for a minimum of 25 people. I sure would not mind paying that amount if I could have all those “specials” in the menu.

GREENWOOD or PETER’S WOODEN HOUSE is Payung Cafe’s special location for exclusive home dining. Suitable for 25-30 people.
For booking, please contact 016 890 6061.
10A, Lrg Perpati 2B1,
Jln Wong King Huo,
96000 Sibu, Sarawak,
Malaysia.